ABANDONING THE FAITH:
Ten Points in
response to the New Statement by Dr.
Don Faris
The "new statement of faith" being
circulated in the United Church of Canada is very
disturbing. Here are ten ways in which it abandons the
Christian faith of the Basis of Union of 1925:
1) Seven times the "new
statement" tells us that "God is Holy Mystery". How
many times did Jesus call God "Holy Mystery"? Why
not? What did He call God? Have you heard of the
Mystery religions of Jesus' time? They were
"syncretistic" meaning they took elements from many
religions. Is this "new statement" "syncretistic"?
2) The" new statement"
calls Jesus "the child of Wisdom" (p.10) and never calls
Him "God's only Son". Have you heard of the Gnostic
religions of Jesus' time? They denied Jesus' unique
divinity and reduced Him to a teacher of wisdom. Is
this "new statement" Gnostic?
3) The "new statement"
tells us that the Church through the ages spoke of God
as one and Triune: Father, Son and Holy Spirit (P.10)
and then the "new statement" never again names God the
Father, or God the Son! Is the "new statement"
Trinitarian or Unitarian?
4) The "new statement"
names God "Mother" (p.10). How many times did Jesus
name God "Mother"? Why not? What do you know about the
Mother Goddess religion of the time of the prophets or
of Jesus' time?Does this new statement open the door
for the Mother Goddess?
5) Is listing three
functions of God (Creator, Redeemer and Sustainer) the
same as naming God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit? Have
you heard of the heresy of "Modalism"? A Unitarian god
can appear in three modes. Is this new statement an
example of "Modalism"?
6) The "new statement"
after having created confusion about the Trinity on its
very first page, then says that Baptism should be by
water "in the name of the Holy Trinity", (p.18). What
is the name of the Trinity? The 20 Articles of 1925 say
that baptism is "into the name of the Father and of the
Son and of the Holy Spirit". But out of the confused
and distorted teaching about the Trinity on page one of
the new statement, you might think you could baptize in
"the name of the Mother, Friend and Comforter". This
confusion is intentional. In 1984 a radical feminist
dominated committee on baptism recommended that baptism
be into "the name of the Holy Trinity". This
recommendation was defeated at General Council because
it was recognized that unless baptism is "into the name
of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit",
baptism in the United Church would not be recognized by
other Christian churches. The United Church could be
seen as a cult and very possibly be removed from
membership in the World Council of Churches.
7) When the "new statement"
lists the tragic outcomes of sin it mentions "hatred,
violence, greed and selfishness" but does not mention
"lust". Twice it likens "sexuality" to gender or race
(pp.18, 19. Does this open the door to the approval of
gay, lesbian and bisexual practices? Does it also open
the door to other forms of "sexuality", such as
adultery, group sex, incest, pedophlia and bestiality?
Why not? Scripture condemns all such practices as "porneia",
sexual irregularity inconsistent with God's
intentions. When the "inclusive" United Church approves
some of these practices, why not all?
8) The "new statement" says
that Jesus suffered "torture and execution by
government" (p.14. Scripture tells us that both
religious and political forces conspired to torture and
execute Jesus. Why does the "new statement" exclude the
role of religion in executing Jesus? Jesus came into
conflict with the religions of his time. Today millions
of Christians around the world are tortured and executed
by religious and political forces. Why is this
continuing persecution ignored? Is it because it
contradicts the naive religious syncretism that informs
this "new statement"?
9) In 1925 the United
Church said that the Holy Scriptures were "the ultimate
standard of Christian faith and life". The "new
statement" says "Among the creations into which Spirit
has breathed revelatory power is Scripture". What has
Spirit not breathed revelatory power into? How about a
rock or a fence-post? How about the witchcraft, curses
and evil spirits of animistic religion? Clearly the
syncretism and inclusivity of the new statement has
demoted Holy Scripture from being "the ultimate standard
of Christian faith and life" to being just one among
many.
10) The earliest Christian
faith statement was "Jesus Christ is Lord". Why does
this "new statement" never declare that Jesus Christ is
Lord? Is Jesus Christ Lord of the United Church of
Canada? Or has the United Church become so dominated by
ideology that it has denied its Lord? The ideology of
inclusivity (religious syncretism), radical feminism
(Mother Goddess) and sexual liberation (gay, lesbian and
bisexual) dominate this "new statement". If you compare
it to the 20 articles of the Basis of Union of 1925 you
can see that it is not the original faith restated, but
the original faith abandoned!
These ten points could be fifty points! The new
statement reminds me of a very long and flowery sermon
where the preacher attempts to mask a lack of
preparation and substance with flurries of poetry and
rhetoric. It lacks the clarity, concreteness and
biblical substance of the 20 articles of 1925. Does it
have to be this bad? No, it does not. I invite
everyone to compare it to the very clear,
Christ-centered, Trinitarian teaching of "Living Faith",
the 1984 statement of the Presbyterian Church in
Canada. United Church members deserve better than this
"new statement".
Rev. Dr. Don Faris
Retired minister
North Vancouver, B.C.
